Dumbass Sayings: “The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself”

The only thing we have to fear
is fear itself! And random
hands trying to rip our heads off.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” It’s a very famous quote that’s revered by many to be some of the wisest words ever spoken. However, it’s not a true saying. There is plenty to fear besides fear itself: zombies, snakes, acid, acid shooting zombie snakes, etc. Even if there weren’t all those things to fear, just fearing fear is bad enough. Fearing fear is actually the worst thing you can fear. I’d rather fear just spiders than fear itself as a concept. Fear encompasses a lot. I can avoid spiders, but I can’t avoid fear.

Fear will always be there in the dark, lurking around every corner and fearing it will only make it stronger. If you didn’t fear it then it would cease to exist, but it does exist, you can see it in everyone’s eyes. If you don’t believe me, walk around a carnival naked with a rusty chainsaw some time. You can see fear in people’s eyes. Being fearful of that fear would be paralyzing. You can try to avoid fear all you want, but once you see it and you fear it, you enter a neverending, self-perpetuating spiral of fear that can only end in a complete mental breakdown. The fear of fear is so outrageous it’s not even a documented phobia. There’s a documented phobia of unicorns, but not fear. If we all feared fear, humanity would eat itself alive and we would cease to exist. Don’t fear fear, if anything, welcome it.